Age of Myth Book One of The Legends of the First Empire

This is my first novel by Michael J. Sullivan and I can tell you - it was love at first sight. I approached this series with no expectation whatsoever and was rewarded with a 10-star-worthy read leaving me off with the need for more. The good news is, that "Age of Myth" is only book 1 in a 6-volumes-long series set in a highly pastoral and mystical fantasy world. So lucky for me, 5 more books to go. In this first volume, we are introduced to the three main parties of the story which consist of gods, men (Rhunes) and men of which the Rhunes wrongly think of as gods (Fhrey). Each and every character is introduced with so much background information, individual conflict and endearing humour that it is a pure joy to follow their challenges, mishaps and charcacter developments until all the paths cross due to an inevitable overall threat. Even though Sullivan's first book is much concerned with giving the reader enough exposition concerning his imagined world, its magical system and different inhabitants it is nevertheless teeming with action, intrigue, magic and warfare. To my greatest surprise, this story manages to get by without any vulgar sex scenes, gory battle descriptions and unnecessary drama but still captivates to such a high extent that I cannot stop reading this series. The perfect book for a very entertaining and at the same time very sophisticated reading experience.